WDPX
WDPX-TV, virtual channel 58 (UHF digital channel 32), is an Ion Life owned-and-operated television station serving Boston, Massachusetts, United States that is licensed to Woburn. The station is owned by Ion Media Networks, as part of a duopoly with Boston-licensed Ion Television owned-and-operated station WBPX-TV (channel 68). The two stations share studios on Soldiers Field Road in Boston's Allston neighborhood and transmitter facilities in the Newton Upper Falls district of Newton. History Channel 58 first signed on July 19, 1985 as independent station WCVX, owned by Cape Cod Broadcasting and originally licensed to Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, with studio facilities in Hyannis. Its lineup featured a mixture of vintage reruns, old movies, several half-hour feeds of CNN Headline News, a few first-run syndicated shows and some locally produced programming, including a twice-nightly newscast. However, it suffered early on due to lack of cable coverage, as the Supreme Court had struck down the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s must-carry rule on the very day WCVX launched, thus knocking it out of the 60% of homes in the Cape Cod region relying on cable television. Despite this early hurdle, however, area cable systems gradually began adding WCVX to their lineups, and by August 1987, it was carried by every provider on Cape Cod. In spite of achieving the necessary cable carriage, WCVX was still ailing financially, and by 1988, Cape Cod Broadcasting president Don Moore was forced to turn the station over to Sentry Federal Savings Bank. After taking control, Sentry spent the next three years attempting to sell WCVX, at one point entering into negotiations with WNAC in Providence, Rhode Island about possibly acquiring WCVX as a satellite station. However, the deal collapsed after it was decided by WNAC management that any resulting boost would be minimal at best, as well as Cape Cod's aforementioned widespread cable penetration (which had increased to nearly 100% by late 1990, when the talks took place) already providing sufficient availability of both the Boston and Providence stations. Unable to find another willing buyer, Sentry decided to shut down WCVX, and the station went dark in the early hours of July 2, 1991, following an airing of the 1955 film Kentucky Rifle. Three years after its demise, in 1994, the station was purchased by Boston University and relaunched as WZBU, a satellite of Boston's WABU, channel 68 (along with WNBU in Concord, New Hampshire). In 1999, Paxson Communications (the forerunner to Ion Media Networks) bought WABU, WZBU and WNBU, immediately turning them into part-time affiliates of Pax TV (now Ion Television), while retaining some syndicated programs; the stations' call letters were also respectively changed to WBPX, WDPX and WPXG later that year. Eventually, the syndicated programs were dropped, turning WBPX and its satellites into full-time Pax owned-and-operated stations by 2000. During the FCC's incentive auction, WDPX-TV sold its spectrum for $43,467,644 and indicated that it would enter into a post-auction channel sharing agreement. WDPX now channel-shares with former parent station WBPX-TV; as the WBPX signal does not reach Vineyard Haven, WDPX has changed its city of license to Woburn. Category:Ion Life affiliated stations Category:Channel 58 Category:Woburn Category:Boston Category:Massachusetts Category:Television channels and stations established in 1985 Category:1985 Category:Former independent stations Category:Former PAX Affiliates Category:Former Ion Television Affiliates Category:Ion Media Category:UHF Category:Other New England Stations Category:1994 Category:1999 Category:2009